UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE

Meeting Minutes

March 10, 2003

104 Gore Hall 4:00 PM

Members absent: J. Barker, S. Gillan, J. Gizis, D. Green, V. Martin, A. Munchow, R. Opila, D. Seckel, L. Ware

Members excused: T. Barnekov, J. Bishop, J. Dee, A. Fox, C. Gempesaw, M. Ginzberg, L. Gottfredson, L. Harrison, M. Hoffman, E. Kaler, M. Keefe, D. Legates, S. McGeary, , B. Paulanka, J. Scholtz, K. Stein, J. Stoner, D. Vlachos,

I. President Jay Hildebrandt called the meeting to order. He announced that Item 6 of the meeting agenda listed under A. Announcement for Challenge, should be moved from the Consent Agenda and to New Business due to a question from a faculty senate member on the item. Also, Ken Koford would address the Faculty Senate after the presentation by Provost Dan Rich concerning review of the university multicultural studies requirement by the Committee on Undergraduate Studies. The meeting agenda and these changes were approved unanimously.

II. Approval of the Minutes: February 10, 2003. Chuck Mason, Senate Vice President, stated that in the minutes of February 10, 2003, it should read Revision of major in Spanish Studies. The minutes were then approved unanimously.

III. Remarks.

A. Provost Dan Rich gave a UD admissions update to the Faculty Senate. He stated that although the process is ongoing so that no firm numbers could be given, projections indicated that approximately 22,000 undergraduate applications were anticipated, along with approximately 7,000 graduate applications. Both these estimates would be above last year’s totals in both categories. Again, UD is projected to have the largest number of out-of-state undergraduate applications for any public institution in the country. Like last year, the University of Michigan will probably be ranked second. Academic qualifications for these applicants, as well as the graduate applicants, are also higher than last year. Provost Rich said that the undergraduate admissions target will remain at 3,200, but admission of more in-state residents may increase that number to 3,300-3,400 due to a sensitivity to the larger number of Delawareans applying as compared to last year. The overall acceptance rate should be about 47% with approximately one-third of out-of-state applicants accepted. Provost Rich concluded with the announcement that the three-decades old parallel program will be replaced with an associate arts (2-year) degree with automatic eligibility for the UD 4-year baccalaureate degree.

B. Ken Koford, chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee, summarized the review of the UD multicultural studies requirements. He said that no consensus could be reached given the complexity and diversity of discussions and opinions; however, two points of agreement by the committee were that the multicultural requirement should not be abolished, and that there should be a shift of these requirements in the direction of a global perspective; that is, how the world views the U.S. given current world events. He said the committee is committed to deliver a resolution to the Faculty Senate before the school year is out. An open hearing on this subject is possible in order to include opinion from as many people on campus as possible. A suggestion was made to include the information on the review of multicultural studies requirements on the Faculty Senate webpage, and Ken agreed that this would be done.

IV. Announcements by President Hildebrandt: None.

V. Consent agenda.

A. No discussion occurred related to Announcements for Challenge. The vote was unanimous in acceptance of these agenda items.

B. No discussion occurred related to Resolutions, except for correction of item 1 to read: Environmental and Energy Policy Program. The vote was unanimous in acceptance of these resolutions.

VI. A. Old business: None.

B. New business. Discussion evolved around the question of the new minor in Biochemical Engineering. Anne Robinson gave a brief description of the minor and students interested in the minor. Chuck Mason asked about use of a minor in this case. He said that UD has 71 defined minors, but the proposed minor has a higher number of 600 courses as requirements which may restrict its availability to undergraduate students. Use of a concentration instead of a minor was noted, but a concentration was not broad enough in this case and the industry has a better picture of what a minor is. It was remarked that 600-level courses have been used by undergraduate students in a similar manner for some time. Discussion ensued about 500-level courses at UD, specifically CHEM 527. After a lengthy discussion, a vote was taken. The motion passed, 35 yes and 4 opposed with no abstentions.

C. New business: Item 6 on revision to the major for Baccalaureate for the Registered Nurse. Eric Benson questioned the revision of the major to total 120 credits; as UD continues to strengthen its academic programs and student quality improves, reduction in the number of required credits appears a contradiction. Discussion ensued concerning reduction in the number of credits for undergraduate majors at UD. Remarks were made that 124 credits may be considered the desired number of credits, but 120 credits may be too few; however, it was noted that the Registered Nurse degree is intended for returning nurses, and the number of credits is consistent with similar nursing degrees at comparable universities. It was stated that the minimum number of credits for a baccalaureate degree at UD is 120 credits. After a lengthy discussion, a vote was taken. The motion passed, 31 yes, 5 opposed, and there were 4 abstentions.

X. The meeting was adjourned by Jay Hildebrandt at 5:08 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Dallas Hoover, secretary